We expect our health care providers to be skilled, experienced professionals who know how to nurse our wounds and treat our illnesses. But what about the less-talked-about side of medical care—the “softer side” of health care? Hear Heather Abbott’s story of recovery and the major impact individual providers can have on a patient’s recovery, especially those who have suffered traumatic injury. Sometimes the road to recovery is marked by more than just medicine.

Most companies and schools follow this formula: if you work harder, you will be more successful, and then you will be happy. This formula is scientifically backward. A decade of research shows that training your brain to be positive at work first actually fuels greater success second. In fact, 75% of our job success is predicted not by intelligence, but by your optimism, social support network and the ability to manage energy and stress in a positive way. By researching top performers at Harvard, the world’s largest banks, and Fortune 500 companies, Shawn discovered patterns which create a happiness advantage for positive outliers—the highest performers at the company. Based on his new book, The Happiness Advantage, Shawn explains what positive psychology is, how much we can change, and practical applications for reaping the Happiness Advantage in the midst of change and challenge.

What is more important than IQ and emotional intelligence combined? Based on the research in Before Happiness, Shawn Achor takes us to the beginning of human potential to explain why some people are able to make great changes while others remain the same. Before you can make a change at work or home, your brain first constructs a picture of reality; this mental picture already determines your likelihood of success and your ability to harness your brain’s IQ, emotional and social intelligence. In this exciting talk, Shawn takes the audience to the cutting edge of positive psychology and neuroscience to clearly demonstrate how one can become a “positive genius”: one who can continually architect successful, positive realities based upon true facts then transfer those realities to others. Using his signature humor, new case studies and interactive experiments that engage the audience, Shawn makes this research come alive. Shawn illuminates new research he did in collaboration with Yale published in the top psychology journal this year showing step by step how a leader can change their mindset about stress to increase productivity by 30% and lower health problems and fatigue by 23%. Audiences leave with five clear, practical takeaways, which can immediately start to transform their life, raising both happiness and success rates. In this program, participants will learn how to navigate multiple realities at work, cancel internal and external noise, add vantage points to planning, use success accelerants to speed goal completion and use meaning markers to spread positive genius throughout a team, family and an entire organization.

Jarrett M. Adams was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault at age 17 and sentenced to 28 years in a maximum security prison. After serving nearly 10 years and filing multiple appeals, Jarrett was exonerated with the assistance of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. Going from inmate to exoneree to law student to attorney with the Innocence Project, Jarrett has a unique perspective to share on over coming adversity and criminal justice reform. A thought-leader in those areas, Jarrett continuously contributes to the ongoing discussion around prison reform and wrongful conviction. His story of incarceration, exoneration and redemption has been featured widely in the media, and he has become a sought-after motivational speaker for athletes, students, inmates, attorneys and others.

In an up-close-and-personal format, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sits down for a candid discussion, sharing her perspective on the current state of world affairs and on the personalities who shape today’s headlines. Audiences are given unprecedented access to one of the globe’s most powerful, respected and vibrant women as Albright sheds light on challenges both personal and public. Albright responds to questions from both the moderator and the audience, and engages in a no-holds-barred discussion of issues ranging from war and peace to the challenge of juggling career and family life.

Described by The Wall Street Journal as “a force of nature, the Energizer Bunny, the Tasmanian devil, and Luke Skywalker,” José Andrés is not your typical “chef” by any stretch of the imagination. As a man with 13 restaurants; numerous prestigious accolades, including the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in America, the highest honor in the U.S. restaurant industry; owner of ThinkFoodGroup, a company with 800 employees and an annual revenue of $75 million; a sought-after TV icon; a political activist; and a professor at Harvard, Andrés’s secret to success is evident in his being so passionate about creativity and innovation that he has no problem rolling up his sleeves and doing the heavy lifting himself. In a presentation chock-full of edge-of-your-seat anecdotes, Andrés proves that a culture of innovation and creativity not only leads to personal success, but also a better tomorrow for all.

With a mission to change the world through the power of food, José Andrés has dedicated himself to not just feeding the few at his award-winning restaurants, but to feeding the many as well. Alongside his non-profit organization World Central Kitchen, Andrés works to find smart solutions to hunger and poverty around the world, focusing on health, education, and jobs. Beginning with his experience volunteering in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, Andrés realized that food can be used to empower communities and strengthen economies. In an uplifting and inspirational presentation, Andrés shares stories and images from his travels, including the work he has done in promoting clean cookstove technology, improving kitchens in urban and rural schools, and launching culinary projects to create jobs and increase opportunities for families in Haiti and around the world.

In this presentation, Baier shares with audiences his son Paul’s brave journey through the seemingly endless maze of medical procedures and operations required to sustain his life since being born in 2007 with five congenital heart defects. Three open-heart surgeries and seven angioplasties later, Paul's example of courage and resilience has served to transform Bret and his wife Amy's beliefs about what matters most in life - totally reshaping their definitions of character, faith, hope, courage and love. Facing the greatest crisis of their lives, Baier interweaves Paul's almost six-year medical ordeal with Bret and Amy's own journey from the depths of despair to acceptance then to hope. Told through the eyes of a loving father and master storyteller, audiences will hear Paul's inspiring story from a man who just happens to be someone millions turn to for the day's news. Although there are plenty of tears and pain to work through, at its core their story is an uplifting and inspiring testament to the endurance and hope of an American family in crisis. Surviving every parent's worst nightmare, Bret and Amy emerge—just like their courageous son—scarred but not broken.

Are you waiting for your company or organization to do something? Well, guess what? They are waiting for you to take ownership. The "adult daycare center" is closed and you are now responsible for developing yourself and producing results.

Business change is moving at the speed of light and to keep pace your organization needs you to be your own career architect.

What is driving this line of thinking? McKinsey & Company forecasts that by 2025, automation technology innovations will assume tasks now performed by 250 million knowledge workers worldwide, freeing the remaining workforce to devote time and energy to more creative pursuits.

Whether you hold a leadership position or not, repositioning yourself to revitalize your role within your current team or company is a powerful tool for professional development and rapid career growth.

You will learn Simon’s strategies for staying relevant in every economy and emerge from this highly interactive session with a plan of action to: